2019 Montessori Year in Review

We believe in having diverse and hand-ons approach to teaching children. Our programming makes us the best Montessori near me. Read our newsletters from 2019 for examples of how we educate.

November 2019

The children delighted in continuing one of our Thanksgiving Classroom Traditions by creating a Gratitude Tree. Throughout the month, they were welcome to share a gratitude thought with a teacher. The thoughts were written on colorful paper leaves and then attached to our tree. Everyone’s hearts were so full of Gratitude that our tree was overflowing with Leaves!

Another one of our favorite November Traditions is our MPS Thanksgiving Luncheon. The older children happily reminisced about our previous gatherings and looked forward to preparing (and eating J) our signature “Mac and Cheese.” Both Primary Classes worked together all morning on Thursday to make the cheese sauce. We made eight times the original recipe, so we needed a very huge pot, plenty of butter, flour, milk, half and half, cheese and LOTS OF LOVE which, of course is the most important ingredient! (Please note that if you were to try this recipe at home, you would need to invite several children to help or it would just taste like regular Mac and Cheese.) It was a great opportunity for putting some Practical Life skills to use; opening butter wrappers, measuring, pouring, stirring, and everyone was happy to lend a hand.

  On Friday morning, we set up three different cooking stations where the 3 year olds made the punch and arranged the flowers, the 4 year olds made the salad and the Kindergarteners made two awesome Fruit Turkeys. We wish to thank Rita and Bijal for assisting our enthusiastic, young chefs. Thank you all for joining us and sharing the delicious desserts. The children were delighted to greet you with their songs and have you as their guests

October 2019

  Our month began with one of our favorite MPS October traditions; a trip to Great Country Farms! The children were treated to a fun hayride as they munched on some delicious apples fresh from the tree. Once we arrived at the pumpkin patch, everyone scampered about in search of his/her perfect pumpkin. Some chose a small one, others the biggest one they could carry!  Back at the farm, we met with our guide for a presentation about pumpkins, and then apples.  Our outing ended with a wonderful picnic lunch and a great romp on the farm’s awesome playground.

  Back at the school, the children enjoyed a Halloween Buffet of Pumpkin Muffins, Black Grapes, Popcorn, and Apple Juice. Our snack was followed by a very fun Dance Party. We moved to some great songs including, “The Monsters Stomp Around the House,” “The Skeleton Dance,” .

   We are focusing on our connection to the earth and each other. As our outdoor garden comes to an end for the year, our indoor plantings are thriving. The lettuce and carrots that we have grown from seed are coming along well! The children have brought their sunflower plants and hopefully found a home on a sunny window sill in your home. (These are not frost hardy.)

   We have been reading the book, ‘Before We Eat: From Farm to Table’ by Pat Brisson a few times a week at lunch time.  We are bringing a mindful understanding and appreciation  that all our food comes from the earth and the many steps that occur before we can eat a meal.

  To further this awareness, the kindergartners received a large array of dried corn on the cob in early October. For weeks, everyone picked dry kernels off the cobs until they were all clean. Now the class is using a hand mill to grind those kernels into cornmeal which will become cornbread! They can hardly wait!

  The class made homemade pasta with freshly grated cheese and enjoyed it on pizza Friday.   We set up our lunch tables with festive red tablecloths and pretended we were at an outdoor cafe in Italy enjoying our fresh made pasta and pizza.

  Kindergartners have been extremely busy this fall. They were fortunate enough to purchase a raw jacobs’ sheep wool fleece in late September and immediately got busy skirting and scouring it. Once clean, they carded it and took turns spinning it into yarn with a drop spindle. Spinning yarn is a slow process, but they are moving right along.

  Expanding on our exploration of pumpkins, the kindergarteners baked a whole pumpkin and used it to create delicious pumpkin bread which they were kind enough to share with the whole class for a snack!

 September 2019

  Through September we were learning about apples and the apple plant  life cycle. We talked about how apple trees grow, identified parts of an apple and learned about different varieties of apples. Miss Brandy created wonderful apple themed work for the children which included apple chopping, apple slicing, apple peeling and cinnamon grating. All of these  “works” prepared  the class to make apple sauce and apple butter. All of the children agreed the results were delicious!

   All of this activity ties into the first traditional Value Tale book, read by Mrs. Cheng, “Johnny Appleseed and the Value of Love”. We learned how Johnny shared his love of apples with all the pioneers by planting apple orchards all over our country. This story allows discussions of early American history and the pioneers, the geography of our country at that time, the science of the apple cycle, and the care required for an apple plant to become part of a thriving apple orchard.  As with all our readings , we work on building empathy by imagining how the main character felt. We imagined how the pioneers felt as they gazed upon the apple orchards they would leave behind as they started their journey west. We imagined how Johnny felt as he walked from Massachusetts to Ohio. We imagined how the pioneer families felt when Johnny surprised them with a visit and shared the news with them.

  Outside in our garden beds, a few small tomato plants and lettuce remain. We decided to plant up one of the beds with sunflower seeds, which the children did joyfully. We watched as many of the seedlings emerged and then regrettably were quickly enjoyed by many hungry squirrels and birds! Fortunately we also planted seeds for growing indoors. Each child is growing their own sunflower plant. We are also watching lettuce and carrots grow on our window sill where they will be safe! The  children sang a sweet song to the seeds to wish them to grow with the help of the sun, rain and our love. We thank Miss Lauren for bringing the wonders of nature into our classroom !

   Our kindergarteners are eagerly filling the roles of our classroom leaders.  We are emphasizing responsibility, leadership, kindness and role modeling. The kindergarteners are called upon and volunteer to help younger or new students. This is a powerful self-esteem booster. The child that is helping has the satisfaction that they are competent and already successful in the endeavor and then they get the positive experience of expressing kindness and helping someone. The child receiving help feels cared for. The interaction builds our classroom sense of community!

May 2019

   We had a great field trip to Riverbend Park! We learned about the life cycles of frogs and turtles. We hiked a trail in the rain as our guide pointed out Paw paw and Beech trees. We thank our chaperones Carol Tepfer and Lee Biear for joining us.  The rangers were impressed with our children’s keep up attitude and their engaged questions.

  This spring, we had a visit from the  town of Herndon arborists who planted a dogwood tree for us in a corner of our play yard. We enjoyed watching him as he explained how we should care for the young tree to keep it healthy.

April 2019

  Our trip to the zoo was great fun! The weather was perfect, not too warm, and not too cold. We set out on our African Safari along the Cheetah Conservation Trail where we saw Griffon Vultures, Hornbills, Cheetahs, Zebras, Red River Hogs, Gazelles, Sitatungas, the Great Horned Oryx, and the Lesser Kudu (not to be confused with the Greater Kudu J.)

  At the Ape House, we had a close-up view of a Mother Gorilla and her baby. As we continued on our adventure, we came upon an exhibit with Lemurs from Madagascar. There was also a family of ducks and an amazing amount of turtles in a pond, which although not African animals, were still delightful.

  Our Yoga Class included Lion Pose for the mammals, Snake Pose for the reptiles, Frog Pose for the amphibians, Butterfly pose for the insects, Fish Pose for the ocean creatures, Tree, Flower, and Mountain Poses for the land, and Child Pose for the people.

March 2019

 What an active month we have had!  The children enjoyed finding a fresh new GREEN supply of  work waiting to be explored. On March 18th they came into the class to discover that  wee leprechauns had been scampering about the classroom making some mischief and dropping green and gold coins along the way! Shamrocks were spotted upon each of the planets in the solar system that is suspended from our ceiling! To celebrate St. Patrick’s day,  we sang songs including the popular When Irish Eyes are Smiling and MacNamara’s Band.

    Now we can once again begin planting, starting with some cool season crops.  We have two garden boxes. One is for our organic vegetable growing and the other we are currently using for flower gardening. Presently we have tulips emerging where we planted bulbs in the fall.

  We have focused our attention on the weavers of kente cloth in Ghana. We learned what the different colors symbolize. Some of the children have come up with their own kente cloth designs.

  We continued our study of the Solar System during the month of March. We have songs about the planets and the Solar System we enjoy singing. Among many thoughts of wonder we marveled at the fact that Jupiter has 60 moons, Uranus has 13 rings and spins on its side. Some of the kindergartners may be able to share with you the name of the brightest ring of Uranus!

February 2019

  We continued to study about Antarctica with a focus on Penguins in the beginning of the month. We learned that each penguin makes a unique sound and even after being separated for months, the mates can find each other among hundreds of other penguins. We challenged our own listening skills by playing a game once called Little Mouse, but now retitled, “Little Penguin.” The children became very skilled at recognizing each other’s voices while covering their eyes with a blindfold. We had a lot of fun with the game and our studies of Antarctica, but it was time to leave this cold and windy place and we welcomed our new Geography Studies of Africa.

January 2019

  We feel that we may have been responsible for the recent frigid Virginia temperatures, as we continued our study of Antarctica this month. It did, however, enhance our virtual journey. Our young “research scientists” have been busy with their explorations. We have discovered seals, giant squids, water birds, and whales.  And of course, Penguins!

  We learned that there are seventeen different types of Penguins and that many of them live in Antarctica. Penguins are birds but they do not fly. They are, however, excellent swimmers! We learned that Penguins eat fish and krill and they recognize each other by each one’s unique sound.

 The children have been very excited about our new Science Unit on the Human Body. We started our lessons with the skeletal system. The children have graciously welcomed “Mr. Bones” into our classroom, which is a small moveable skeleton model. They were intrigued to realize that we each have a skeleton inside of us. They also thought that it was funny to think that we would be just a “blob-like-jelly” if we didn’t have any bones. We have learned how our muscles help us to move and how our joints help us to bend. We discovered that our dear model, “Mr. Bones” could not do yoga very well because the poor guy has a very stiff, spine. We were glad that we have flexible vertebrae!

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